Go Go Sentai Boukenger The SatoruEiji universe
by MzDany
Summary: After having officially joined the Boukenger team, Eiji struggles with his incomprehensible feelings towards Chief, while Satoru is trying to resign himself to what he believes is unrequited attraction...Slash SatoruxEiji
1. Chapter 1

Go Go Sentai Boukenger: The Satoru/Eiji universe  
By Dany  
PG-13

Summary: After having officially joined the Boukenger team, Eiji struggles with his incomprehensible feelings towards Chief, while Satoru is trying to resign himself to what he believes is unrequited attraction...

(_chapter 1, set shortly after Task 20 'A new giant'_)

"Why in the world would you people need a headquarters that huge?" Takaoka Eiji lamented for the umpteenth time as he shuffled down the hallway of the SGS dormitory after Akashi Satoru. "You've dragged me all over this place for the last hour and the only thing it's done is that I'm completely turned around now."

"I thought you might want to get to know your new home," Satoru said over his shoulder with a wry grin.

"I just wanted to know where my room was," Eiji countered. "You were the one who had the great idea to combine that with the Grand Tour." The twinkle in his eyes belied the gruff tone, though, and Satoru grinned again.

"Well, your suffering is over now, here is your room."

They came to a halt in front of a nondescript door exactly like every other one down the long corridor. The only thing that identified it as Eiji's room was the silver color bar atop the keypad and buzzer. Satoru dug a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Eiji.

"This is the access code for your door."

"Thanks."

"If you need anything - my room is three doors down the hallway." The Fiery Adventurer pointed down the corridor.

"Lemme guess: the door with the red color bar on it," Eiji deadpanned.

"Right, smart-ass. Come by any time."

Eiji averted his eyes from Satoru's warm gaze. "Thanks, but I'm sure I'll be all right."

"This was not an empty offer, Eiji." A hand on his shoulder made the Ashu-hunter look back up. "You are not alone anymore. You have friends now." Satoru said. "Remember that."

"I know." Eiji seemed to be at a momentary loss for words at the friendly gesture. He shifted his pack from one shoulder to the other. "It's just - I need some time to get used to the concept, I guess. I've never had friends before."

"Well, you've got all the time you need. We're not going anywhere." With a playful cuff to Eiji's shoulder, Satoru turned to go. Three steps down the hallway, however, he suddenly snapped his fingers and turned back around.

"By the way, I found something that belongs to you. You'll find it inside." And with that he walked off down the corridor.

Somewhat bewildered, Eiji stared after him until the chief was swallowed from his view before he punched in his door's access code. He crossed the threshold - and stood rooted to the spot when he saw the item on his bed.

There, atop the quilt, lay his broken _shakujo_, his father's staff.

Not sparing the rest of the room a second glance, he was by the bed in three long strides, grasping the staff in a white-knuckled, two-handed grip.

Its energy was depleted, of course, released when Gai destroyed the ornamental top of the staff, but Eiji could still feel a remnant of his father's essence lingering within. A slow smile spread across his face at the familiar and comforting feeling.

_Where and when had Satoru found it?_ After the battle with Quester-Robo, Eiji had returned to the spot where the staff had been broken, but despite an extensive search, had come up frustrated and empty-handed. _Had Satoru beaten him to the spot or just happened to have found it in an area that Eiji hadn't searched?_

It didn't matter; all that mattered was that he had his father's legacy back, even in its broken state.

For a moment Eiji was of half a mind to run back out into the hallway after Satoru, but an overt display of gratitude was not Eiji's nature. He would thank Chief tomorrow, after making a crack that he would eventually have found the shakujo himself.

Still, he couldn't deny the warm feeling that went through him at Satoru's efforts.

Eiji sat on the mattress and shifted his grip on the metal rod, examining the jagged top. One piece of dark metal was sticking out a bit and when Eiji jiggled it between two fingers, it came loose. It was about half the length of his index finger, with one pointed and one blunt tip and for a long moment, Eiji stared at it thoughtfully before a smile formed at the corners of his mouth.

Tomorrow he would take the piece down to SGS's machine shop; with all the sophisticated equipment they must be housing there to aid the Boukengers in their hunt for Precious, they were sure to have a precision tool that could cut a small hole through this shard.

If Eiji could no longer carry his shakujo, he would be wearing a piece of it around his neck from now on instead. That way at least he could keep his father close to him in _some _way.

Nodding to himself, satisfied with his decision, Eiji looked up to take in his new surroundings for the first time.

Standard employee quarters; the bed, nightstand, a small desk with a chair, a TV screen mounted on the wall opposite the bed. A narrow closet next to a closed door that, Eiji assumed, led to a doubtlessly tiny bathroom.

Good enough for him. Time to make himself at home.

He put the staff back on the bed, then retrieved his bag from where he had dropped it by the door and proceeded to unpack his meager belongings, draping his father's black coat over a hanger in the closet and putting away his few other items of clothing. It took him less than ten minutes to 'move in' and afterwards, the room didn't look much more lived-in than before.

Still - much better than what he was used to. He now had shelter from the elements, an actual mattress to sleep on, indoor plumbing and convenient access to food, since there had to be a kitchen or cafeteria around here _somewhere_.

Eiji snorted; an hour of forced sightseeing around SGS headquarters and the one place Akashi hadn't shown him was the cafeteria.

Akashi. Satoru. Chief. Eiji wasn't even sure what he was supposed to call him. The rest of the team was easier: Sakura-san, Natsuki-chan, Souta-kun and…the black guy.

But Chief? That guy was an enigma to him. Eiji's eyes went to the Go Go Changer on his wrist. Satoru had exhibited a trust in him that no one else other than his father had ever put in him. Even after Eiji had nearly killed him a few days ago under the influence of his Ashu blood…Eiji's grip on his shakujo tightened unconsciously at the memory. Even after that, he had still wanted him to be part of the team!

_You have given me a chance when no one else would, Satoru, and I will not betray that trust. I promise!_

That night Takaoka Eiji slept soundly, his father's staff on the floor next to the bed. He dreamt of Akashi Satoru.

* * *

'Man, where is that funny upside-down cone guy with a treasure-hunt assignment when you need him?' Eiji thought as he stared into his glass of carrot juice while noise abounded all around him in the common room. He was trying to teach himself team spirit by spending more time with the Boukengers instead of going off on his own, but between Natsuki and Masumi's high-pitched argument about some silly topic he tried hard not to listen to, Souta's guitar-strumming and Sakura's constant questions about one aspect after another on the mechanics of the Siren Builder, Eiji was developing a headache. He had no idea how that mecha worked; he just drove the thing. _And where was Satoru anyways? _

Just when he was seriously contemplating a strategic retreat to his room for some peace and quiet, the double doors swished open and Makino-sensei entered.

"Ah, good morning, Boukengers," the older technician said, bowing. "It is that time of the month again."

The statement was received with smiles all around the Boukenger team as they assembled around their tech support specialist. Eiji stayed where he was, watching in mystification as Makino handed out an envelope to each treasure hunter.

Masumi tucked his in his jacket pocket and immediately took off with hardly a good-bye.

"What is this?" Eiji asked.

"Why, it's your paycheck, Ei-chan!" Natsuki exclaimed. "What did you think?"

"Paycheck?" Eiji echoed, genuinely puzzled. He had never even considered the possibility that he was going to get paid for being Boukenger, yet here was Makino-sensei handing him an envelope with his name in formal kanji on it.

His father had left him with enough money to survive so far; he had never had a reason to worry about funds. There was still quite a nice amount left in the black lacquered box hidden in the house of his birth. Eiji looked at the envelope again. But this was certainly a nice incentive on top of adventuring.

Sakura's voice broke through his thoughts. "What are you going to do with your money, Eiji?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I never even thought we would be getting paid for Precious-hunting."

"Yeah! Going on adventures _and_ getting paid for it. Isn't it great?" The big grin on Souta's face showed that the High Adventurer certainly thought it was.

"What do _you all_ do with your money?" Eiji wanted to know.

Souta shrugged. "I don't know what Masumi is doing, but I'm sure Chief is already on his way to that antiques store across town that he always visits on payday. The old man who owns it has an impressive collection of treasure maps."

Eiji grinned at that; so like Satoru to be spending his money on treasure maps.

"Natsuki and Sakura are going shopping!" Natsuki said ebulliently. "I really hope the mall has a sale on cute clothes. You should go, too, Ei-chan!"

"Why?"

The yellow-clad girl managed to look both amused and exasperated at the same time. "So you can get some new clothes for yourself, of course! That same black pants/black t-shirt outfit gets boring after a while, you know." She stepped up to him and grabbed a fold of his commodious coat, eyeing the worn black material with a frown. "And you might want to get that coat dry-cleaned."

"I'm not going to get my father's memories dry-cleaned away!" Eiji huffed indignantly, snatching the cloth back.

"All right, all right," Natsuki laughed, "keep your funky coat, then. We're off!" She winked at him as she grabbed Sakura's arm and dragged her towards the door.

Souta dashed after them. "Wait, I'm coming with you. There's a comic book store at the mall that I've been wanting to check out for the longest!"

The three of them walked out the door of the common room, and Eiji could hear Natsuki ask, "What do you guys think Masumi _is_ doing with his money?"

"Who knows? What he _should_ be doing with it is take it to a dentist…"

"Souta-chan!"

Eiji couldn't help but laugh while the door swished shut behind his three teammates. He put the envelope in his pocket and drained his glass of carrot juice. Natsuki was right; he should spend his money on _something._

The image of Satoru poring over faded, old treasure parchments popped into his head. Perhaps next time they could go to that antiques store together. Or somewhere else, a restaurant maybe…

_Dinner? Whoa!_ Eiji blinked at that unforeseen thought. Strangely enough, though, he could see them going out to dinner together, just the two of them.

_Why not? We're two **men**, after all… It's not like it would be a date - would it?_

The Dazzling Adventurer stared at his empty glass as if it somehow held the answer, yet the only thing he came up with was that he needed some fresh air.

He went out and somehow ended up at the nearest farmer's market where he spent a good part of his earnings on fresh vegetables.

_TBC…_


	2. Chapter 2

(Chapter 2 - _set right after Task 23 "Dangerous partner")_

There were consequences of a life lived mostly outdoors, Eiji mused as he slowly walked down the corridor towards Akashi Satoru's room. One of them was a heightened sense of awareness. Takaoka Eiji had lived as an Ashu hunter most of his life, had spent years traveling the islands, and that kind of life necessitated very acute senses. And just because he now had his own room at SGS headquarters didn't mean he could just turn off those acquired instincts. Therefore, Eiji noticed things; he did not comment on many of them, but that didn't mean they escaped his attention.

Chief's longer looks directed at him was one of those things. Eiji could feel them even when his back was turned to Satoru. He had also taken notice that Satoru had begun to touch him more often; casual clasps on the shoulder, an approving pat on the back, a gentle grasp of his upper arm when they spoke - and what puzzled Eiji most about it all was that he didn't mind any of it. On the contrary; he had actually begun to enjoy those casual contacts and those warm brown eyes gazing at him these past few weeks. What he wasn't able to make sense of, however, was his own reaction to them. Why was it that, when Satoru looked at him or touched him in any way, his heart rate would speed up?

Especially since this did not happen with anyone else on the team.

And then there was the dream from a few nights ago. Even now Eiji still could feel the blush creeping up his cheeks whenever he thought about it, and he had hardly ever blushed before in his life.

There wasn't much about the dream he actually remembered, only fragments of images. But he remembered the colors; red and silver. When he awoke, it was still in the dead of night - and he was hard to the point of pain.

The arousal itself was nothing new to Eiji; he was a man, after all, and even in his still half-asleep state he knew what to do about it. But while he was working on the sorely needed relief, parts of the dream came back to him. A face was materializing from the haze and Eiji's eyes flew open with surprise when he recognized it. He was too far gone, however, to stop his ministrations and so he had come with a powerful spurt - and Satoru's name on his lips.

All this went through Takaoka Eiji's mind, distracting him to a point that he actually walked straight past Chief's room. He doubled back and took a deep breath to clear his head while his hand hovered over the buzzer.

He was here to apologize to Satoru about punching him in the gut on the Boardwalk earlier today. And he hadn't yet figured out how to smoothly work _'By the way, Chief, why is it that there seem to be butterflies having a party in my stomach every time you touch me?' _into the conversation. Not to mention that he would bite off his tongue before mentioning the dream.

No, he had to somehow make sense of all this by himself. He just needed more time - and more touches...

_Apology first, Takaoka! Analysis of butterflies and wet dreams later. _

He squared his shoulders and pressed the buzzer.

* * *

When Satoru opened the door, he didn't give the impression that he was still mad at Eiji for the sucker-punch. He did seem surprised to see him, though.

"Eiji."

"Satoru-san, I..." Eiji cleared his throat, chewed on his lower lip, then, still standing in the hallway, abruptly bowed to Akashi. "I want to apologize for what happened on the Boardwalk earlier today. I shouldn't have punched you, that was..."

"Eiji."

The Ashu-hunter looked up at the softly spoken sound of his name to find Satoru regarding him intently. The chief nodded towards the interior of his room.

"Won't you come in."

Eiji straightened and crossed the threshold; despite Satoru's 'open door' offer from a few weeks ago, this was the first time Eiji had actually entered his room.

He took a surreptitious look around. Satoru's room was furnished just like his, but there were noticeably more knick-knacks; artifacts of all kinds covered the desk, dresser and other surfaces, and several prints of treasure maps were pinned to the walls. Eiji gave a small, lopsided grin; Chief's work was definitely his hobby.

Although the room was well-lit, a vanilla-scented candle was burning in a holder on the nightstand next to an open book; a novel, Eiji supposed. Satoru had been reading.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything," he said, nodding towards the book, but Satoru waved it off.

"Don't worry about it. Here, have a seat." He gestured towards the desk chair, but Eiji shook his head and propped his hip onto the side of the desk instead.

As Satoru slid into his desk chair, Eiji said, "Look, I just want to make sure you know that what happened on the Boardwalk...this wasn't against you personally. I would have punched Masumi or Souta just the same." He paused, his face scrunching up. "No, that didn't come out right. I didn't mean to imply that I would have liked to punch them any more than you..."

Satoru chuckled when Eiji paused again, let out a frustrated growl and took a breath. "Wait, let me rephrase that again..."

Apparently deciding to save his teammate before his apology turned even more convoluted, Akashi held up a hand. "I understand, Eiji. This wasn't about me, or any of us. It was about Gai and Rei."

Eiji nodded mutely, relieved that Satoru understood.

"I know how important defeating the Questers is for you," he added, "but you have to remember that you're not alone in this anymore. Destroying them and the Negative is a team effort now."

"Yeah, well, obviously that hasn't happened today."

"Maybe not today, but it _will_ happen eventually. Trust me."

Satoru's conviction was genuine; he obviously wanted to put Eiji at ease, and Eiji felt that surge of warmth towards him again.

The chief leaned forward in his chair and the look he gave Eiji promptly got the damn butterflies going again. "Let's not talk about this anymore. The most important thing is that everything today turned out all right in the end. Souta is safe and sound, and Quester-Robo was destroyed." Satoru gave a seemingly casual shrug. "As far as I'm concerned, that's all that counts."

They talked for a few more minutes about different things while, all the while, Eiji was surreptitiously multi-tasking between trying to ignore the palpitations in his stomach and getting his heartbeat back to normal.

He didn't linger much longer, and by the time they said their goodbyes, Eiji had himself under control again. He didn't think Satoru had noticed his earlier state.

With a carefully blank face, Satoru watched Eiji walk through the doors and didn't let the sigh wedged in his chest escape until the doors had closed behind BoukenSilver. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

_'Takaoka Eiji - if you only knew...'_

It had been there since he first met Eiji a few weeks ago; Satoru couldn't deny it. A connection that he had thought was emotional, but he had to admit to himself now that it was also physical; he just hadn't realized it right away.

When he had slapped the Go Go changer onto Eiji's wrist, it had been an instinctive reaction to something he couldn't yet identify back then. He had sensed the competence and inner strength in the Ashu-watcher, and the leader in him had just somehow known that Takaoka Eiji would make a very good addition to the Boukenger team, - but the _man _in Akashi Satoru had had a reaction he had not felt in a very long time: instant attraction.

Not since Masaki had this happened to him. But his former treasure hunting partner had been straight and hopelessly infatuated with Kyoko, the third member of their team. When those two finally got together, Satoru had smiled and repeatedly assured them how happy he was for them, but inside, a part of him had withered irrevocably. He had promised himself to keep his heart from getting in the way of adventuring from now on, and up till now this resolution had worked out quite well.

Until Eiji had swept into his life and, unintentionally, shattered his emotional restraint as if it were glass.

More than once since then, Akashi Satoru had sat back and done some serious and lengthy introspection on that subject.

Eiji?

Of all guys, why him? Why an aloof, borderline arrogant, socially challenged half-demon?

That alone prompted Satoru to doubt whether he would ever follow up on that attraction. The fact that Takaoka Eiji had spent most of his life hunting demons all over Japan by himself made it pretty safe to assume that the handsome Ashu-watcher was somewhat 'handicapped' in matters of interpersonal relationships; therefore the usual rules of the Game of Courtship couldn't be applied, since Eiji would either totally misinterpret them or completely miss them all.

There was also the problem of leadership; as Chief, he was expected to uphold the harmony within his team, and an unrequited attraction was sure to threaten that harmony at one point. But it was there, firmly lodged in his heart and although he had tried, he'd had about as much success in ignoring this feeling as he had in wishing it away – namely none.

The treasure hunter half of him couldn't help but to keep pondering how to best acquire the object of his newfound attractions; the other half, however, the Boukenger leader, was more than a little hard-pressed to find a way to smother those inopportune feelings for his teammate.

Chagrined, Satoru kept on staring at the now closed door.

"Damned if I do, damned if I don't."

_TBC…_


	3. Chapter 3

A few days later, Satoru was walking down the corridor towards SGS's gym with a steady, almost hurried, gait.

He was hoping that on a Wednesday afternoon, not many people had the same idea as he did, namely to work up a good sweat and blow off some serious steam at SGS's impressive range of exercise machines.

He was not upset at anyone or anything; the reason for his need for physical exertion was of a different nature. Maybe, if he exhausted his body enough, he might actually be able to sleep through the night for once without dreaming of Takaoka Eiji.

The close teamwork with Eiji was as much joy as it was anguish. To be fighting side by side, to go adventuring together and retrieving Precious…And yet - to be so physically close to the handsome Ashu-hunter all the time and be able to touch him only in the same companionable way as the rest of the team did was tough. Especially on those rare occasions when Eiji aimed that killer smile of his on him. It never failed to leave Satoru feeling light-headed, and it was getting harder and harder for him to just casually grin back and turn away from that sight when all he wanted to do was grab Eiji by the collar of his jacket and kiss him into oblivion.

Until now only the hunt for Precious had given him that kind of natural high. Until now.

As Satoru walked through the doors of the exercise-facility, he nodded to himself at the thin scattering of SGS employees, but his face fell when he recognized the lone figure by the row of long, sand-filled boxing bags.

There, dressed identically to himself in grey sweatpants and grey t-shirt with **SGS** in bold black letters across the front, was Eiji.

Satoru groaned inwardly; what irony! Here he was trying to release some pent-up tension through exercising only to run into the very object of that tension! For a moment, he considered leaving again, yet he remained, watching, as Eiji pummeled the hanging punching bag. The Ashu-watcher's movements were so graceful and fluent it seemed to Satoru that Eiji was performing a dance rather than a boxing exercise. The heavy bag quivered under Eiji's relentless blows and Satoru was surprised to see that Eiji was not wearing any gloves, only handwraps.

Just when Satoru was getting ready to quietly slink off towards the other end of the gym, Eiji's attuned senses must have activated somehow, for the Dazzling Adventurer suddenly paused and turned, looking straight at him.

"Chief!"

"Eiji." Satoru plastered a grin on his face as he approached. "I was wondering whether I should jump in and rescue the poor punching bag from you."

Eiji laughed softly; he seemed a little embarrassed at having been observed. "No need. I'll have mercy on it and stop for now." Putting a hand on the sand-filled bag to stop it from swaying, he said, "This is just so much better than bare hands on a tree trunk."

"Ouch!"

"Yeah." Eiji leaned a shoulder against the bag and proceeded to unwrap the bindings from his hands. "But you get used to it after a while."

"Well, you should really like our training facility, then," Satoru said casually. "No splinters." But the picture of Eiji in the wilderness honing his fighting skills with the help of tree trunks, boulders and what else he could use as training materials stuck in his mind. It made him realize just how little he knew about this man.

"It works for my needs," Eiji grinned. "So what are you doing here?"

"Same thing as you, I suppose. I came to get some training in."

Reaching for his bottle of water on the mat beside the bag, Eiji said, "Well, if you need a sparring partner..." The rest was drowned by a long gulp of water, but the invitation had been implied.

"Thanks, but aren't you tired from beating up the bag?" Satoru wanted to know.

Eiji snorted. "Please. That little bit? That was just a warm-up."

The Chief cast Eiji a long glance. _This is probably a bad idea, but... _"All, right. What do you have in mind?"

The Ashu-hunter shrugged. "How about some good, old-fashioned hand-to-hand combat?"

Satoru had to grin; the look on Eiji's face was nonchalant, but he knew a thinly veiled challenge when he heard one. "You're on!"

SGS's training facility was divided into several sections, with half a dozen smaller martial arts practice rooms lined up against the far side of the room behind the boxing rings. They chose the cubicle farthest removed from the only other occupied one, took off their shoes and socks, then assumed their respective positions, circling one another warily. Having never trained with each other before, both men instinctively sized each other up, each trying to get a feel for the other.

Satoru's hands were raised and he moved carefully, in a pattern reminiscent of a karate kata. Eiji, on the other hand, just moved far enough to keep Satoru in front of him, his hands balled into fists, but hanging loosely at his sides.

This lax posture seemed to confuse the chief. Eiji smirked. "Where did you learn to fight, Satoru?" he asked. "Here?"

"When I joined SGS, they gave me some pretty extensive combat training, yes," Satoru said. "They train all of their employees, not just us Boukenger." His gaze never left Eiji's. "What about you?"

Eiji shrugged. "My father taught me all I needed to know to defeat the Ashu."

Satoru blinked; obviously that was not the answer he had expected. "That's all?"

"That's all."

"No formal training?"

"Never needed it."

Eiji's mouth quirked when he saw Satoru's shoulders relax a tiny bit. _What, so you think that puts you on safe ground now, Akashi? You'll see..._

He put on his patented condescending smirk, raised his fists to barely waist height and jerked his head in a 'bring it on' gesture. Satoru took the bait and leapt at him.

He shifted his weight, dancing out of the way and the Fiery Adventurer's blow struck empty air. For a few minutes, they traded tentative kicks and punches. Then Eiji kicked low, aiming for the backs of Satoru's knees, and Chief stumbled and fell forward. Quicker and more agile than expected, however, Satoru rolled off his shoulder and bounced back up before Eiji had a chance to pin him down.

"It's not gonna be that easy," Satoru grinned and they circled each other once more.

Now it was Eiji's turn to throw some punches. He feinted a left hook and followed it up with a right one aimed at his gut, but Satoru seemed to be prepared this time.

Chief sidestepped him and blocked two more of Eiji's blows before he seized his fist at the third. He pulled, using his moment of surprise to unbalance the lighter-haired man and smoothly angle into him, flipping him over his shoulder.

Eiji's reaction, however, was unexpected as well. Even as he was falling, his hand shot out to grab hold of Satoru's wrist, and as soon as he hit the mat, he kicked at the chief's ankle while pulling him down. Satoru fell once more, and this time Eiji didn't give him the chance to get back up. Lightning-quick he rolled on top of the Boukenger leader, pinning his wrists down to the mat. Satoru bucked, trying to dislodge him, but Eiji held fast. A victorious grin emerged at the corners of the Ashu-hunter's mouth - only to petrify half-formed when he abruptly became aware of his exact position draped over Satoru's body. Or more precisely, lying between the chief's splayed legs, their stomachs, groins and thighs pressed against each other.

Satoru had ceased his struggles as well. Apparently, the other man had come to the same realization at the exact same time.

Both of them lay frozen, looking into each other's eyes.

Pinned wrists forgotten, Eiji reached up and brushed his hair out of his eyes; a futile effort since it fell right back in again. His skin felt as if currents of electricity were sparking at every contact point with Satoru's body. Other symptoms followed promptly: the quickening of his heart, the shortness of breath and the tightness in his chest, the slow burn in his stomach…Startled, Eiji pushed off him and slumped heavily onto the mat. "_I…don't...understand_!"

Satoru blinked as if jolted out of a trance, then sat up as well and fixed Eiji with an intense, scrutinizing gaze. "Understand what?"

"These…these feelings!" Eiji ran his hands through his hair, bewilderment and frustration plain to see on his face. "Why? Why do I feel so different when I'm around _you_? It's not like that with the others."

That was true; although at first he had to get used to having people around him and being part of a team, by now he really did consider the SGS treasure hunters his friends. But these feelings of friendship were also part of his current emotional dilemma; whatever it was he was feeling for Satoru was not the same as the friendly feelings he had for the rest of the Boukengers, including Makino-sensei and Mister Voice.

He dismissed the mysterious sentiments as ones of gratitude as well. Eiji had been thankful to people before in the past for various reasons, and it had never felt like this.

_Was it admiration? Possible._ Akashi Satoru could be considered a hero. He was BoukenRed, the leader of SGS's elite treasure hunting team and obtainer of countless dangerous Precious. He was smart, strong, handsome, brave, but most of all, he was a good leader. He had also stared Eiji down, confronted him and refused to be intimidated by his Ashu-form, even when he was literally a second away from certain death.

But then again – something between the feelings he had just experienced and mere idolization felt _off_. Besides, hero worship was not something Eiji had ever indulged in. The deciding factor against this particular sentiment, however, was something else. Admiration did _not_ manifest itself in repeat occurrences of The Dream. Eiji was certain about that.

In the back of his mind, a suspicion stirred, a by now familiar one, since it had been poking at him several times before over the past few weeks. Eiji sighed; he needed to finally either dismiss or confirm this notion once and for all, and for that he needed help. Satoru's help.

The sound of his name broke through his train of thought. He looked up to see the chief still studying him intently.

"Huh?"

"I asked _what kind of feelings_, Eiji?" Satoru pressed.

Slowly, haltingly, the Ashu-hunter did his best to express the characteristics of his emotions, and it was clear from the glimpses he threw Satoru from under lowered lashes that, while the meaning behind all these sensations was eluding him, it did not do so entirely.

Satoru's spirits, on the other hand, soared as he sat and listened to Eiji's descriptions. If Eiji, however convolutedly, felt the same way he did, then there was definitely hope there for them. They would work the rest out somehow.

He reined in his elation, however; too early, too tentative. This had to be done one step at a time, and the first of those steps would be to clear up Eiji's confusion.

"I believe I know what it is you're feeling, Eiji," Satoru said quietly when Eiji eventually fell silent.

Eiji's brows drew together. "Well, what is it?" he asked, and with his heart pounding in his chest, Satoru took the plunge and said, "It is…attraction."

Eiji just stared at Satoru for a long moment, and the Boukenger leader could literally see the pieces falling into place in the Ashu-hunter's mind.

A long silence followed, one that Satoru was about to break when Eiji suddenly grimaced and shot to his feet with a wordless exclamation. He would not look at Akashi as he said, "I'm sorry."

Satoru blinked as he automatically pushed himself off the mat as well. "Sorry for what?"

"I…I think you are right, and I can tell that this makes you uncomfortable," Eiji replied, still staring at the floor. His hands were at his side, balled into fists, and Satoru could see the tension in those broad shoulders. "But you don't have to worry; I can work on this. This is not going to affect our teamwork or my performance as Boukenger. I promise."

And before Chief had the time to reply, the Ashu-hunter abruptly turned and stalked towards the doorway of the training room, snatching up his shoes and socks along the way.

Satoru's voice stopped him a foot from the door. "Wait, Eiji. Please!"

It was the almost pleading intonation of that last word that had Eiji slowly turning around again. Satoru was still standing in the same spot, but now took a few tentative steps forward, narrowing the distance between them again. His voice was soft, yet intent.

"You misunderstood. It's not that I'm uncomfortable with this. Matter of fact, I was hoping this is how you would feel, because - " Satoru paused, and Eiji finally looked at him.

"Because..." he pressed.

Satoru took a breath. "I...I feel the same way."

Eiji had grown so still that he didn't even seem to be breathing. Satoru held his gaze while the look in the Ashu-hunter's brown eyes shifted from apprehension to comprehension.

"That is…If that idea doesn't send you running for the hills," Satoru added carefully, and Eiji actually snorted a laugh at the unintended pun.

"No, I think my wandering days are over."

Satoru smiled at him. "Good."

An answering grin developed on Eiji's face, and for a moment they just looked at each other, taking in this new development between them.

"So,…" Eiji drawled. "What exactly do people do who are attracted to each other?"

The blank and mildly inquisitive expression on his face was carefully cultivated, but Satoru caught the twinkle of amusement in those beautiful eyes. Eiji might be lacking practical experience in the subject, but he wasn't completely ignorant. He decided to play along.

"Well, they spend time with one another, get to know each other better, share their thoughts and feelings." He paused to lock eyes with Eiji. "They…kiss."

Although he had already envisioned something along those lines, Eiji could hear his heart pounding in his ears, could feel the heat rising into his cheeks, but all he could say was, "Ah."

Satoru's eyes stayed on him, a look somewhere between anticipation and wariness and with a start Eiji realized that the chief was waiting – for a gesture, maybe? But what kind? He could think of only one.

"I guess we should stick to tradition, then," he murmured as he reached out, grabbed a handful of Akashi's t-shirt and gently pulled him even closer. Satoru complied only too willingly.

"Good idea."

They were the same height, so neither of them had to tilt his head. They simply came together, mouths finding each other like magnets. Satoru saw Eiji's eyelids flutter closed a moment before his own did, and for the few heartbeats that their lips touched, there was no SGS, no Boukengers, no Precious, no Negative; just soft lips, Eiji's scent and his own wildly beating heart.

Perfect.

Although it was a chaste, close-mouthed _getting-to-know-you_ kiss, it nevertheless left Satoru breathless. He desperately wanted to wrap his arms around the other man and crush him against him, or run his hands either through that hazelnut-colored hair or under the grey SGS t-shirt. But since any of these actions definitely fell into the 'too much too soon' category, he settled for curling his fingers around Eiji's upper arm instead. A few moments later, he felt a tentative hand on his shoulder in return.

When their kiss ended, they didn't move apart right away. Instead, they shared a long, silent look. Eiji seemed to be as much in need to catch his breath as Satoru was. His eyes were still slightly glassy and his cheeks were flushed, a look that Satoru leader found incredibly sensual.

More to himself than to Eiji, he murmured, "I have never kissed a man like that before."

Eiji didn't miss a beat. "Then you've got one up on me, because I've never kissed _anyone _like that before," the demon-watcher said. His eyes strayed to Satoru's mouth, and for a moment the chief thought Eiji would lean in for another kiss, but instead, the Dazzling Adventurer took a step back, his hand leaving Satoru's shoulder. The loss of contact almost made the chief sigh.

"I might need some time to...to process all this," Eiji said. "My way."

Satoru's brows creased slightly. "Your way?"

"Alone."

The last thing Akashi wanted at this moment was for Eiji to leave, but he found himself nodding nevertheless; Eiji had indeed quite a few things to mull over now and come to terms with, and as much as he wanted to talk to him about these new developments between them, he knew that before that could happen, Eiji had to make some decisions on his own.

So he nodded again, this time in encouragement, and Eiji gave him a slight, almost shy smile as he turned and made his way back towards the cubicle's doorway. At the threshold, he paused and looked over his shoulder.

"Don't worry. I'll be back."

"Yeah, I know," Satoru replied quietly, but Eiji was already gone, leaving the chief standing in the middle of the training room, barefoot, his mind racing in sync with his heart.

* * *

In the meantime, on the other side of the city, in an ostensibly abandoned warehouse in the harbor district, a white-robed figure let out a hoarse cackle.

"It is done!"

Arch priest Gaja turned from his lab table piled high with an assortment of glass tubes, jars and mechanical gadgets, and held up a dark green flask for the two looming figures behind him to see.

"Are you sure this will do it?" Quester Rei asked and the priest leveled a piercing glare on him.

"Of course it will! Once he drinks this potion, his transformation is a sure thing," the Gordom leader said, indignant that his abilities were questioned by his underlings. "And this time, he won't be able to fight it."

"Excellent!" Quester Gai rubbed his hands together. "And just in time, too. The new and improved Quester-Robo is ready as well. We can move out any time you wish to collect him, Gaja-sama."

At that, an evil smirk grew on the priest's face and he balled his stone-like hand into a fist. "The sooner the better, then," he replied. "Go now. Bring him to me!"

The two armored ex-Ashu warriors bowed curtly and strode towards the back of the building, their own guffaws filling the air as they made their way to their hidden mecha.

_TBC…_


	4. Chapter 4

Eiji was gone for nearly an entire day. When he finally walked into the common room the next afternoon, Natsuki was the first one out of her chair and running towards him.

"Ei-chan, where have you been?" she cried, latching on to his arm in her usual effervescent way. "Natsuki was getting worried about you. No one knew where you went. What if we would have needed you for a mission?"

He only gave her a mock-exasperated look. "Well, obviously you didn't." He took a few steps further into the room and the yellow-clad girl followed, still firmly attached to his limb. "Besides, I didn't go out of communications range; you guys would've been able to get in touch with me."

The funny-shaped table in the middle of the rec room was littered with papers, snacks, and Sakura and Souta's laptops. Their respective owners were presently busy typing away in perfect stereo. Souta gave Eiji a smile and a nod, Sakura barely glanced his way, absorbed in her task as always.

Satoru had been hunched over some papers as well, coffee cup in hand, but he straightened up as Eiji approached the table. The two young men shared a look. Satoru's face was expressionless as he nodded to Eiji in greeting, but the Ashu-hunter could see the unspoken questions in the chief's eyes, could sense his uncertainty from the tension in his shoulders and the tight grip he had on his coffee mug. _'He's wondering what decisions I've made, whether I'm regretting what happened in the gym.'_

There was no way for them to speak of any of this right now, of course. It would have to wait until later, so for now, the best Eiji could do to soothe the Boukenger leader's apprehension was to give him an inconspicuous smile, a quick yet intense non-verbal exchange to let him know his readiness – no, his urge – to talk.

"So…where'd you go?" Masumi inquired from his position on the lounge chair, and this time Eiji's irritated look was genuine. _Nosy guy!_

"Out. Around," he told the black Boukenger tersely. "You people are still too loud for me, therefore I still need to get away from you all from time to time." Eiji emphasized his statement with pointed looks at everyone but Satoru. Then he nodded towards the stacks of papers.

"So, what're you all working on?"

"Research for our next Precious-mission." Satoru made a sweeping gesture with his mug that encompassed all the papers. "Mr. Voice wants us to investigate a rumor about an artifact hidden in an extinguished volcano on Hokkaido. Apparently, there is evidence that the fabled Armor of Achilles is hidden there somewhere."

Eiji raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "Achilles? The Greek guy?"

Satoru nodded and Eiji took this as the perfect opportunity to move close to him, peering over his shoulder as the chief pulled a few sheets of paper together with depictions of the various pieces of armor. "According to legend, Achilles' enemies believed that it was the armor that made him nearly invincible. So after his death during the battle of Troy, some of his loyal soldiers took the armor and smuggled it out of the country to keep it from falling into the Trojans' hands. Somehow it's supposed to have ended up in Hokkaido, of all places..." Satoru kept fumbling with some of the papers during his explanations, but he stilled when he suddenly felt a hand on the small of his back. He cast a side glance at Eiji, but the Dazzling Adventurer had his eyes fixed on the papers in ostensible fascination. Nevertheless, the hand was there, a subtle touch, yet to Satoru it felt like it was burning right through his jacket.

Sitting the way he was, facing the rest of the team, there was no way anyone could see the discreet contact and apparently, that's what Eiji was banking on as well. The hand was not moving, yet it remained, and Satoru took that as a very good sign that Eiji had, during his day-long retreat, come to some favorable conclusions about them.

"So when does Cone-Man want us to move out?" he heard Eiji ask.

"As soon as we've narrowed the search perimeter down to less than the twelve volcanoes it's up to now," Souta took it upon himself to reply, and Satoru found himself hoping that this would be soon.

Even with the Go Go vehicles, it would take some time to travel to Japan's northernmost island, so even if they didn't get a chance to talk before their departure, there would definitely be opportunities for some private conversations along the way. After all, there was room for two in most of the cockpits of the vehicles.

His thought process was interrupted when the tripartite video screen on the wall abruptly came to life. Mr. Voice was bouncing up and down, and their animated employer's 'face' was crimson red. "Boukengers, we have a serious situation in the downtown area," he cried. "This just came through our surveillance cameras. Look!"

The screen changed to a view of downtown Tokyo – and a monstrous robot marching through the streets, blasting its lasers at buildings and stomping on vehicles at random.

The treasure hunters were out of their seats in a flash, staring in horror. Natsuki pointed at the monitor. "Hey, isn't that the Quester-Robo? How can that be? We destroyed it just last week!"

Satoru shook his head. "No, look closer; it's a new one."

He was right; although it was unquestionably the same design as the first Robo, it showed several differences to the former model, mostly in its armor plating and armament. It had noticeably more lasers barrels, and in addition, was carrying a huge cannon under one arm.

"They already made another one?" Souta exclaimed. "For crying out loud! Where do they get their parts and labor from?"

"Gordom Incorporated, no doubt," Satoru said. "With Gaja as the CEO."

On the screen, the Quester-Robo kicked a formidable hole into the side of a building, and suddenly, a familiar voice came through the audio feed.

"Boukengers! Come out, come out, wherever you are," Quester Gai jeered in a singsong tone.

That did it! Satoru whirled around, facing his team. "Boukengers, we must put a stop to this right now! Move out!" He snapped his fingers, and the team turned as one and ran for the exit.

When the Daibouken and the Siren Builder reached the downtown area, the Quester-Robo was waiting for them. As soon as the Daibouken came within range, the Questers unleashed on it. A volley of rapid laser fire as well as half a dozen rockets hit it simultaneously, the impacts almost bringing it down to its knees. The Siren Builder came up alongside it, but neither its Knuckle attack nor the Triplicate Bomber attack seemed to have any effect on their enemies' new mecha.

Inside the Quester-Robo, Gai and Rei only laughed.

"Time to try out our new and improved fire power!" Rei cried, and with the push of a few buttons, they channeled the immense energy of the Robo's Goadam Engine into their weapon systems, hitting the Siren Builder dead on. The massive blast from the Thunder Obliteration Cannon promptly overloaded Eiji's mecha and Satoru cringed when he heard BoukenSilver's cry. The Siren Builder was engulfed in crackling electricity and already, the first acrid plumes of smoke could be seen emerging from it.

"Silver, get out!" Satoru yelled over the commlink, but Eiji had already beaten him to it. Satoru saw him ejecting from the Siren Builder a mere moment before the huge mecha crashed to the ground.

The Questers, however, were obviously not finished with Eiji yet. Almost as soon as BoukenSilver touched the ground, the Quester-Robo leveled one of its lasers on him. Eiji leapt sideways, but was just a bit too slow; the energy discharge caught him square in the chest and he was lifted off his feet and thrown backwards into the wall of the nearest building.

The impact, combined with the power blast, proved to be too much, even for the BoukenSilver suit. It overloaded and dematerialized, leaving Eiji unconscious on the ground in his black pants and silver SGS jacket.

Sakura was half out of her pilot seat as she peered anxiously out of the Daibouken's cockpit windows. "Chief, we have to help him!"

But Satoru was already turning the Daibouken around, ready to scoop up their unmoving comrade to keep him safe. They were stopped short, however, when the Quester-Robo swung its Thunder Cannon at the Boukenger mecha. The impact had the Daibouken reeling backwards once more. It was followed by a powerful volley of laser fire, and to the Boukengers' shock, their huge battle machine began to topple, then went down in a heap of screeching metal.

Sprawled on the ground, helpless like a beached whale, the Daibouken was on its back, presenting its five pilots with a dismaying view of the looming enemy mecha, but also of the events now unfolding with Eiji.

They could clearly see the dark flash emanating from the Robo's cockpit, and a moment later, Quester Gai appeared not five feet away from Eiji's prone form. The Quester grabbed the de-henshined Ashu-hunter by his jacket, lifted him off the ground without effort and slung him over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Eiji never stirred.

Cackling victoriously, the armored Ashu turned and waved to the Daibouken with his free hand. A moment later, the air around him expanded, then contracted; Gai was gone – and so was Eiji.

Cries of dismay echoed through the mecha cockpit.

"Eiji!"

"_NO!_"

"Ei-chan!"

A tidal wave of ice water seemed to wash over Satoru as he could do nothing but watch Eiji's abduction helplessly from their pinned-down battle machine. _'The bastards have been after Eiji from the start. Everything else was just a diversion!'_ The realization twisted his guts into painful knots, and he redoubled his efforts of getting the Daibouken upright once more. Through the comm. channel came Quester Rei's sneering voice.

"Mission complete. Bye-bye, Boukengers."

The Quester-Robo kicked the Daibouken one more time for good measure before it turned and strode away. By the time the Boukengers had their robot back on its feet, the enemy mecha was gone.

Satoru stabbed the video-link button to SGS headquarters. "Makino-sensei!"

The technician came online almost immediately, his face grave and drawn; apparently, he had witnessed the ominous events as well. "Boukengers, this is a most serious situation…"

"Makino-sensei, can we track Eiji through the Go Go changer even if it's not activated?" Satoru cut him off, trying hard to keep the distress in his voice under control.

The technology expert frowned in thought. "Well, we haven't had to do anything like that yet, but I suppose it should be possible. I would have to make some adjustments in the program..."

"Please hurry!"

The next few minutes before Makino-sensei came back on the comm channel felt like hours to Satoru. But his words made up for it.

"Got him."

Behind his visor, Satoru closed his eyes in relief while the others cheered.

"The signal is coming from the harbor area, or to be more precise, from inside one of the warehouses," Makino-sensei said. "I am sending you the coordinates now."

Satoru entered the received data into the Daibouken's computer, but before the huge machine could thunder off towards its predetermined direction, Souta suddenly snapped his fingers.

"Wait, guys," he said. "What are we going to do about their Gordom Engine? Our suits..."

"Then we will do this without our suits," came Chief's sharp response and there was no arguing with the determination in his voice.

The Boukengers nodded to each other in quiet agreement; Accel Suits or no, they would not leave their comrade in the hands of his sworn enemies.

"That presents us with a problem, though," Masumi said. "No Accel Suits, no weapons. And we can't go against the Questers empty-handed."

His statement was met with silence, and the fact that not even Chief had a ready reply unfortunately only underscored the validity of Masumi's words. Strangely enough, it was Natsuki who broke the silence.

"In that case…" Her helmet suddenly snapped to her right. "Sakura, do you still have, you know, your…_stash_?"

"Matter of fact, I do," BoukenPink replied, her smirk clearly audible. "And it would only take a quick detour to get it all, too."

"Let's do it, then!"

At Satoru's nod of consent, she turned the Daibouken around, heading back towards SGS's museum. Less than fifteen minutes later, the Boukenger mecha was back on course towards the Questers' hideaway, Natsuki's voice echoing through the cockpit.

"Hold on, Ei-chan, we're on the way!"

Behind his visor, Satoru clenched his jaws in grim resolution; Natsuki had taken the words right out of his mouth.

_TBC…_

_A/N: Spoiler Alert: The secret 'stash' Natsuki is talking about refers to Task 12. _


	5. Chapter 5

"Takaoka. Wake up. You've slept long enough."

The words were accompanied by a not-too-gentle slap on his cheek that made Eiji's head snap to the side and fully roused him from his semi-conscious state. Eiji gasped and blinked a few times to clear his vision. Quester Rei and Quester Gai were looming over him. Eiji flinched and reflexively raised his arms in defense. Or at least he meant to do so, for his arms weren't moving. _What the…?_

Amidst Gai's cackle, he looked down on himself and found that he was slumped in a chair, his wrists securely tied to the armrests with corded straps. Another cord was wrapped around his torso, securing him to the chair's back.

His Go Go changer was still on his wrist, but it might as well have been on the other side of the city, for there was no way to reach it.

He willed his thundering heart to slow down, and, masking his anxiety with anger, he growled, "If you think you're going to get any amusement out of killing me slowly..."

"Oh, we have a much better plan for you than killing you," Rei said. "You're going to join us – as Ashu."

The two Questers snarled in anger as Eiji laughed in their faces. "Forget it. That plan didn't work the first time, remember?" he jeered. "And it's not going to work now. I know how to control my Ashu side now. I am human, do you hear? _Human_!"

"Not much longer if I can help it!" came a distinctly raspy voice from behind Rei, and Eiji's blood ran cold from recognition even before Arch Priest Gaja stepped from around his creation's shadow.

"Welcome, descendant of the Takaokas and soon-to-be my servant," he said, looking down on Eiji with a smug expression.

"In your dreams, Gaja," Eiji snapped.

"Oh, it will be much sooner than that, I can assure you." The priest held up a flask. "This potion is made of unholy ingredients, including blood from Gai and Rei. It will inhibit your human genes and amplify your Ashu blood. You won't be able to fight it this time. And once you've changed to Ashu, you will never again be able to change back!"

The priest let out a gleeful cackle at the sight of the blood draining from Eiji's face. His hoarse laughter sounded like a mummy coughing.

"Gai! Rei!"

The Questers moved to either side of Eiji's chair. Gai grabbed a handful of the Dazzling Adventurer's hair and roughly yanked his head back. Rei's cold metallic hand cupped Eiji's jaw, but Eiji kept his mouth firmly shut.

"Open up," the Quester Ashu said. "It's no use fighting it, you'll only delay the inevitable."

Eiji just glared at him defiantly.

Rei turned to the arch priest. "I could punch in his teeth…" But Gaja just rolled his eyes at him.

"No, he'd only choke on the pieces. Must I do everything myself?"

The priest pushed Rei aside and reached out, pinching Eiji's nose shut. Eiji tried to hold out, but after a while he had no choice but to breathe through his clenched teeth. As soon as he took his first breath, Rei pried his mouth open.

Gaja unscrewed the potion flask and held it poised over Eiji's mouth. Eiji's hands were balled into white-knuckled fists and the Gordom priest's mouth split into a cruel grin when he saw the Ashu-hunter struggle vainly against his bonds. "Make sure he swallows it all," he instructed his two robot-armored minions. "He must drink the entire flask."

Slowly, as if to savor the moment, the priest tipped the flask. Eiji made one more attempt to wrest his head out of the Quester's grip, but it was no use. Three drops of dark liquid rolled over the neck of the small bottle and dripped into Eiji's mouth.

"Stop!"

The sharp command was accompanied by an explosive noise and the bottle shattered in Gaja's hand. The priest let out a startled shriek and whirled around.

Four flashes of color somersaulted through an open window set high up in the wall of the building and came to rest with perfect coordination on the warehouse floor.

The Questers let go of Eiji and moved to draw their weapons, but the view of four point-blank machine gun muzzles stopped them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Satoru growled, his part of Sakura's secret weapons cache, a semi-automatic AK-47, aimed at Gaja's forehead.

"Damn you, Boukengers," the arch priest cried. "How did you find this place?"

"Not your concern." The Boukenger leader's voice was dark and menacing. "We're here to get our comrade."

"Yeah, let him go. Now!" Souta had his own machine gun leveled at Quester Gai while the target of Sakura and Masumi's assault rifles was Quester Rei.

The sounds of coughing made Satoru cast a quick, worried look at Eiji. Still tied to the chair, the Ashu-watcher was wracked by a violent coughing fit, his eyes squeezed shut as if in pain. He didn't even seem to be aware of the team's presence.

Gaja followed Satoru's gaze and cackled. "You are too late. Soon the descendent of the Takaokas will be one of us again."

"What have you done?" Akashi demanded to know, careful to keep his anxiety from showing in his voice or face. He took a step towards Eiji, but Rei stepped boldly into his path.

"You fools," the Quester growled with a contemptuous wave at the team's weaponry. "Don't you know by now that your puny human weapons won't do as much as scratch our armor?"

"Who says that's all we brought?" Without lowering his weapon, Satoru flipped open his Accellular. "Now, Natsuki!"

The response was prompt; Gaja and his two armored minions swayed at the shudder that suddenly ran through the building. The ear-splitting noise of several rapid-fire explosions reverberated through the warehouse, and the north-facing side of the building virtually disintegrated into showers of plaster, mortar and debris. The huge fists and the head of the Daibouken could be seen poking through the enormous hole in the wall even while the dust was still settling. All eight of its laser-studded knuckles were aimed at the villains.

A hard smile curled Satoru's mouth. "I think _those_ puny weapons would do more than a little scratching, though." He stared at Rei. "Now - get out of my way."

With obvious reluctance, the Quester retreated, but Satoru hadn't taken three steps towards Eiji when the Dazzling Adventurer suddenly screamed, pulling on his bonds with such ferocity that the cords on the sides of his neck bulged out, pulsing wildly. The ropes snapped, and suddenly Eiji was out of the chair and on his knees, almost doubled over, his head hanging. His hair obstructed Satoru's view of his face, but Akashi could see in Eiji's posture and trembling hands that something was happening to him. Something bad.

"Eiji!"

Eiji fell forward onto his hands, chest heaving. Satoru was crouched by his side in an instant. With firm grips, he took hold of the lighter-haired man's shoulders, partly to keep him from toppling over, but also to get a better look at what was happening.

To his dismay, the eyes in the face that was slowly turning towards him were glowing an unnatural green, the distinct purplish mark of the Ashu already materializing beneath Eiji's right eye.

_No, oh no!_

"Eiji, fight it!" Satoru yelled, shaking the grasped shoulders in emphasis. "You have beaten this before, you can do it again!"

"Satoru…" Eiji suddenly seized the collar of Satoru's jacket with a white-knuckled grip. "Go Go changer…take it," he rasped and the strained words did not sound much like Eiji anymore.

"What?"

Eiji thrust his shaking arm up so close towards Satoru's face that the henshin brace almost touched the chief's nose. "T…take it!"

Seeing the logic behind Eiji's gesture, Satoru unclasped the changer. _Ashu_-Eiji and the Go Go changer were a bad combination.

He stuffed it in his pocket just as Eiji arched his back and let out an inhuman cry while his hair and eyes were turning white. From his upper and lower jaws, fangs appeared.

"No, Eiji!" Satoru cried, despondency now gripping his heart with icy claws. "Fight it, damnit!"

Eiji tried to get up, but Satoru pulled him back down. A brief struggle ensued, but infused with the strength of desperation, Satoru managed to wrestle Eiji to the floor.

"Eiji, focus only on your human feelings!"

Eiji threw a blind punch at the chief, but he was in an awkward position and therefore the blow did not carry much momentum. Satoru caught his wrist easily and held on to it with an iron grip.

Eiji was changing rapidly now, and Satoru knew that in a few more moments he wouldn't be able to hold on to him anymore. Ashu-Eiji would be much stronger than himself. Satoru was racking his brain frantically.

"Eiji! Listen to me!"

But the Dazzling Adventurer was clearly beyond listening, probably even beyond hearing. A few weeks ago, at Eiji's first transformation, Satoru had - rather forcefully - reminded him of his mission to fight the Ashu inside him and that had done the trick. Unfortunately, it didn't look like that method could be applied today.

But there had to be another way of getting through to him!

Suddenly an idea hit him. A risky, maybe even crazy idea, but it might just work!

_Human feelings! What could be more human than this?_ And before he could think any more on it, Satoru pulled Eiji halfway into his lap, pressed his lips onto the Ashu's snarling mouth and pushed his tongue between the vampire-like fangs. He was fully aware of the fact that Eiji, in his current state, might very well bite it off, but he was not deterred. Thankfully, Eiji did not bite, although he did try to push Akashi away. Satoru gripped the back of the now white-haired man's head, continuing to kiss him unerringly. He explored the inside of Eiji's mouth as thoroughly as if it held the rarest treasure on Earth and gradually, the almost completely changed Ashu's struggles lessened. Eiji's fist opened slowly and Satoru let go of his wrist to intertwine their fingers. Eiji held on to the offered digits as if for dear life.

Still kissing him - and still kneeling on the dirty warehouse floor - Satoru pressed Eiji tightly to him, _willing_ the love he felt for this man to pour from his body and into Eiji's, suppressing the demonic form within once more. Suddenly, Eiji emitted a guttural growl - or was it a moan? Satoru couldn't tell, but it did sound more human than other-worldly and his heartbeat increased with renewed hope.

He shifted slightly, letting his tongue brush against the upper row of Eiji's teeth – and his spirits soared when he didn't encounter any elongated canines.

Eiji's fangs had retracted.

His eyes flew open just in time to see the Dazzling Adventurer's white hair change back to its usual hazelnut brown. Eiji's eyes were still tightly squeezed shut, but Satoru had a feeling that once they opened, he would see no more milky white in them, either.

Behind him, the villains apparently couldn't believe what they were witnessing.

"What?"

"NO!"

"Impossible!" he heard Gaja rasp.

The other Boukengers didn't say anything, but Satoru could literally feel their surprised, and probably shocked, stares at the very unconventional rescue effort their chief had just undertaken.

He didn't care. All that mattered was that Eiji was back to his human form. Satoru felt his face splitting into a grin so wide it actually hurt his cheeks.

They had done it; they had beaten the Ashu-curse once again.

Slowly, Takaoka Eiji's eyes opened. They were indeed back to their normal dark brown, not a trace anymore of the demonic white from a few minutes ago.

"Welcome back," Satoru said softly.

All the treasure in the world couldn't compare to the sight of Eiji - _human_ Eiji - staring up at him with glazed eyes.

"…Satoru?"

"How are you feeling?"

"F...fine, I think," Eiji breathed, blinked one more time, then his eyelids fluttered shut and his head rolled into the crook of Satoru's arm.

Despite the precarious situation they were all still in, Satoru's heart felt like it was expanding in his chest as he held Eiji's limp body close to him. Suddenly, Souta was crouched down next to him, his weapon slung over his shoulder. Urgency, but also amusement, was written all over the ex-spy's face, and Satoru was sure that the questions he was going to be peppered with later on would be numerous.

"Let's get out of here, Chief." Souta grabbed Eiji's legs while Satoru supported the unconscious man's upper body and between them, they swiftly carried him towards the Daibouken, their retreat covered by Sakura, Masumi and the huge lasers of the Bouken mecha.

Satoru paused just once to look over his shoulder. "Gaja," he called out, "let this be a warning to you; you mess with one of us - you mess with all of us!"

Gaja stood rooted to the spot, flanked by the Questers, and the arch priest's body shook with rage. "You may have won this round, but this is not the end, Boukengers," he shrieked after them. "Do you hear me? I will get you for this, you bastards!"

None of the treasure hunters bothered with a reply as they climbed through one of the kicked-in holes in the wall and boarded their mecha.

Outside, the twilight had nearly sucked all the light from the sky, shrouding the Daibouken in shadows of deep purple as it made its retreat from the harbor district.

_TBC… _


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Although the majority of this story is rated PG-13, this chapter merits an R rating for more descriptive situations between two consenting men. Consider yourself forewarned…_

* * *

Awareness came back to Eiji with the help of Natsuki's inimitable voice. "Is he ever going to wake up? Chief, maybe we should pour some water over him."

"I took a shower this morning, thank you," he mumbled and forced his eyes open. His throat felt like he had swallowed sandpaper and his voice didn't sound much better, either. "But I could do with a glass of water. To _drink_."

He found that he was lying on the lounge chair in the common room of SGS base with five faces grinning down on him. A blue-clad arm was holding out a plastic bottle of water to him. He nodded his thanks to Souta and took a long drink while he sat up.

He really didn't want to ask in front of the entire team, but he had to know. "What happened?"

"You fainted," Masumi informed him with such a smug grin that Eiji had the urge to stuff an eggplant between those uneven teeth, if he'd had any handy. He settled for indignation instead.

"That's not what I meant, and no, I didn't faint. I passed out. And only for a moment," he insisted, stoically ignoring the fact that, since he had woken in the rec room, he must have been out cold for the entire trip back to SGS headquarters. "Trying to suppress half of yourself that wants to turn into a demon takes a lot of effort, you know!" he huffed. Masumi just kept smirking.

His Go Go changer was back on his wrist and he didn't have to ask who put it there. Eiji traded a look with Satoru, saw emotions in the chief's eyes that he couldn't identify, then averted his gaze to stare at the henshin device again, shuddering at the thought of the damage he could have done with it as Ashu.

Natsuki was asking him a question, but Eiji wasn't really listening. He rubbed his temples, unsuccessfully willing away the headache that was already gathering there. Distorted images invaded his mind of metallic hands holding him down, a foul-tasting potion, the agony and terror of the forced transmutation into his hated Ashu-form - and then more hands, human hands this time, Satoru's voice -

He cut his eyes at Akashi when realization abruptly kicked in. Satoru had kissed him! Had managed to make him kick-start his humanness and reverse the transformation with a kiss the echo of which was still seared into Eiji's mind despite the demon he had almost completely changed into at that time.

_'Wow, oh wow!'_ It all made Eiji's head pound even harder, however. _'Too much; don't want to deal with all this right now, not with everybody staring at me...' _

Thrusting aside the memories, he rose stiffly. "I'm going to lie down some more." He gave them all a quick nod, then descended the stairs and walked out of the common room without looking back.

"You're welcome," Masumi grumbled after the doors had closed behind the Dazzling Adventurer. Satoru clapped him on the shoulder as he headed towards the exit himself.

"I don't think he meant to be rude, Masumi. I'm sure he's grateful to us for his rescue, but probably also a little embarrassed. I better make sure he's all right." And with a few more steps he was through the doors and in the hallway.

Eiji was halfway down the corridor to his room, and Satoru caught up with him easily. "Eiji, wait up."

Eiji slowly met his gaze to take in the concern in Satoru's eyes.

"Are you okay?" the chief asked.

Eiji nodded wearily. "Yeah, I just need a long hot shower. Got to wash the stink of Gai, Rei and Gaja off me."

Satoru let his eyes travel over his prospective partner. Eiji's jacket was dirty and singed in some spots, as were his pants. He was also still sporting the faint impressions of Rei's fingers along both sides of his lower jaw where the Quester had held his head in place while Gaja poured the potion. Satoru's heart went out to him; the marks would disappear soon, but the memories of yet another bad encounter with the Questers would remain in Eiji's head and only feed the Ashu-hunter's urge to destroy his arch enemies once and for all. Satoru didn't even want to think about what might happen next time they came across Gai and Rei; he felt almost sorry for them.

At the door with the silver color bar they stopped, and the chief turned to find Eiji glancing warily at him. It was a look that said _'I really need some time by myself, but I don't want to be rude'_. Satoru decided to make it easy for him, so he simply patted his arm lightly, then turned to go. "I will check on you later, then, if that's okay with you."

Eiji looked relieved. "I would like that."

They nodded at each other and Satoru turned to walk back the way they had come. Eiji's voice stopped him after a few steps.

"Satoru…"

The Fiery Adventurer looked over his shoulder. Eiji was still standing by his open door, but made no move to go inside. Instead he was looking at Satoru intently. "Thanks. To all of you, I mean, for…you know…"

Satoru just smiled. "Go take your shower," he interjected gently. "I'll see you later."

* * *

When the chief returned an hour later, there was no answer from inside Eiji's room when he pressed the buzzer. Only after a second ring, a sleepy '_come in_' sounded from the other side of the door.

Inside, Eiji was just pushing himself up into a sitting position on the bed, rubbing at bleary eyes with the palm of his hand. He was dressed in a fresh version of his usual black t-shirt/black pants attire, brown hair still slightly damp from his shower.

"Sorry," he said, "must have dozed off."

"I can come back later…"

"No, no, it's fine. Come on in."

The door swished shut behind Satoru a few steps into the room. "I'm not surprised. It's been an…eventful day," he replied neutrally.

Eiji snorted. "That's one way to put it." He swung his legs over the edge of the mattress and inclined his head at the spot next to him in silent invitation. Satoru had been steering towards the desk chair, but now changed course and sat down next to the Ashu-hunter.

"How are you feeling?"

"Human…again." Eiji gave a disdainful snort. "Which is pretty much the joke of the day, since we all know I'm not."

"Don't say that," Satoru protested quietly.

"Why not when it's the truth?" Eiji's self-deprecation was painfully apparent. "Satoru, I am _hanyo_. Maybe more than ever now! After the first time these few weeks ago I could still fool myself into believing that this was an isolated incident, but not anymore, not after today..." His tirade was cut short by Satoru's sudden firm grip on his arm.

"You can call yourself a half-demon all you want, Eiji, but the fact of the matter is that you've proved today you _can _still control your Ashu blood. Even with that potion inside you." Satoru tapped Eiji's chest over his heart. "You are more human in there than anything else, do you understand?"

They looked into each other's eyes and Satoru saw Eiji swallow. A little more awkwardly he continued, "And to me, you are first and foremost Takaoka Eiji - the man I'd like to get to know better. Hanyo or no."

Satoru watched Eiji blink; although the avowal wasn't new anymore, his teammate and hopefully soon-to-be-more obviously still had to get a little more used to their shifted relationship. Satoru remained silent, letting him think.

"I have you to thank for the _'no'_ part," Eiji said after a moment. "And most likely also for my life. Judging from the effect just those few drops had - I think the potion was way too strong. If Gaja had managed to make me drink the entire thing…I think it would have killed me."

Satoru said nothing. He didn't think Eiji particularly cared to hear a confirmation of his conclusion.

"If you hadn't kissed me…" Eiji shook his head at the memory. "Satoru, you are crazy, you know that? Do you have any idea how close you came to getting killed at that point?"

Satoru just looked at him, an intense gaze that needed no words; Satoru knew. But he had been willing to risk it, risk his life to save Eiji from a fate worse than death. Eiji felt as if his heart were expanding in his chest. "That kiss…Such a risk," he mumbled.

Satoru gave a little shrug. "There are risks involved in pretty much every treasure hunt, and you have to brave them if you want to obtain the treasure." The Fiery Adventurer paused. "Or, in your case, when you want to save a treasure," he finished awkwardly, expecting the Ashu-hunter to laugh at him for the somewhat corny line, but Eiji instead gave him a look from under lowered eyelashes that instantly doubled Satoru's heartbeat.

"Would you...kiss me like that again?" he asked and Satoru's heartbeat promptly went into overdrive.

Nevertheless he chuckled as he leaned in to comply; it was funny seeing the usually nonchalant, and at times downright arrogant, Takaoka Eiji looking so self-conscious all of a sudden.

"Any time you want."

The feeling of Eiji's lips against his was just as intoxicating as before, but whereas Satoru had not hesitated to plunge his tongue into Eiji's mouth when he was well into his Ashu-transformation, he now found himself hesitating, compelled to hold back for some strange reason. _Maybe because Eiji was himself again…_

So he reluctantly settled for a long and deep, yet tongue-less kiss. When they broke apart, Eiji fixed him with a pointed look, and there was a mischievous twinkling in his eyes.

"Not even close. Try again."

Satoru could feel a small, abashed grin forming at the corners of his mouth as he leaned towards the handsome Ashu-hunter again. And something must have shown in his eyes, for Eiji caught his breath just as Satoru sealed their lips again.

Their second kiss encompassed heat, hunger and nearly all the tongue action that the initial kiss on the floor of their enemies' headquarters had contained.

Eiji's fingers dug into the Fiery Adventurer's biceps. His heart was hammering so hard against his ribcage that he wouldn't have been surprised if it cracked a bone. This was blowing away everything he had ever felt in his life.

He remembered contentment and even happiness from the time with his father. Since his death, though, there had only been the desire to hunt his Ashu-killers and all others like them. With time, Eiji had grown used to the loneliness and solitude that accompanied his mission.

_But this –_

When the kiss ended and Satoru pulled back a little, the smug grin on the chief's face was quite pronounced. "Better?"

Eiji mirrored the smirk. "Much."

"Again?"

"Absolutely!"

A few moments into their third kiss, Satoru gently pressed Eiji backwards and into the mattress, and Eiji let him. He wiggled a little to make room for them both on the narrow bed and they lay down together. The by now familiar slow burn in his gut was quickly growing to blaze-proportions.

The very air around them seemed to be charged with an intangible electricity that marked the change between them - and the anticipation of things yet to come.

Slowly, very slowly, Satoru broke their kiss, but didn't retreat far. "Eiji, can I ask you something personal?" he breathed against the lighter-haired man's lips.

That seemed to take Eiji by surprise, judging by the way he cocked his head. "Okay."

"Have you ever been with a girl – or a guy?"

"Ah…" The Dazzling Adventurer's cheeks promptly colored a pretty shade of pink, a development that Eiji obviously noticed as well and didn't approve of. "I've been an Ashu-watcher all my life and I will be as long as Gai and Rei are alive," he said, trying to cover his awkwardness with indignation. "I haven't had any time for girls or guys…" It must have sounded lame even to Eiji's own ears.

_I take that as a 'no'_. "It's okay," Satoru said nonchalantly to spare Eiji any more unease. "_We_'ve got time, though."

Eiji brought a hand up to Satoru's face, letting his fingertips trail across the chief's cheek and along his jaw line. "I may not know much about...this, but if you're willing to show me, I'm more than willing to learn."

Satoru grinned. "Of course I am. And you've already seemed to have picked up quite a few things."

"Fast learner." Eiji favored him with one of his dazzling smiles so befitting his moniker. "And I'm always up for venturing into unknown territory."

"– to go where no one has gone before –"

"– at least where **_I_** have never gone before –"

"Hey, that's what adventuring is all about," Satoru continued their innuendo. "Exploring new places –"

Eiji's eyes raked over the chief. "Oh, I can think of quite a few places I'd like to explore."

Satoru gave him a smile that could have easily powered half of Tokyo. "Then this could just turn out to be the best adventure ever." He lightly caressed the side of Eiji's face, fingertips ghosting over smooth skin. "When we're on duty, it's work, but afterwards…in here, or in my room, or away from base…no colors, no rank. Just you and me." A deep exhalation greeted his touch as Eiji canted his head to lean into the palm of his hand.

"Just you and me," Eiji echoed, and suddenly those beautiful dark-brown eyes narrowed while the corners of his mouth quirked. "There's just one thing…"

"Huh?"

"For the kind of adventure we're headed to, I think you're overdressed." Eiji reached out and, in one smooth motion, pulled the zipper of Satoru's jacket down to the hem. Grinning, Satoru took his cue and sat up to shrug out of the jacket. The garment had barely touched the ground when Eiji was already pushing him onto his back.

They were now dressed nearly identically in black t-shirts, Satoru's black cargo jeans and Eiji's black slacks. And suddenly it was Eiji taking over, leaning in to claim Satoru's lips in an increasingly demanding kiss that had Satoru groaning into the Ashu-hunter's open mouth. Seemingly of their own accord, his hands somehow ended up under Eiji's shirt, slowly mapping the broad expanse of shoulders and back, along the spine down to his waist and back up again, taking the hem of the t-shirt with him. When Satoru's intentions finally made it through to Eiji's kiss-muddled brain, he was more than willing to comply. He drew back just long enough to pull his shirt over his head. Satoru sat up and did likewise.

The sensation of skin on skin was downright intoxicating when they embraced once more, Eiji's pallor contrasting nicely with Satoru's slightly more tanned tone. Fingers buried into the chief's short hair as Satoru kissed his way over Eiji's throat and collarbone down onto his chest where he stopped when he came across the dark sliver of metal that hung from a thin silver chain around Eiji's neck.

"A piece from the shakujo," Eiji answered his silent question.

"Ah. Keeping your father close?"

"Yeah." Eiji smiled, somewhat sadly. "Have I already thanked you for finding it for me?"

"You have. Not that you needed to, though." Satoru's answering smile was warm. "The staff was important to you. That's all the motivation I needed to find it."

They gazed at each other for a long moment, and there was hunger and anticipation in the Ashu-watcher's beautiful eyes. Neither blinked or looked away until Eiji closed the space between them to take another kiss from Satoru. Their lips only separated again when Eiji suddenly pulled back as a thought hit him.

"What did the others say about that kiss in the warehouse?"

"Ah, that." Satoru gave him a hesitant smile, but quickly grew serious again. "I had quite a few questions to answer while you were out of it…and I didn't deny or belittle my feelings for you. So yes, they know."

"But under normal circumstances, you wouldn't have been ready to tell them yet, am I right?" Eiji's voice was neutral, his face unreadable.

"It was…earlier than I would have liked," Satoru admitted honestly, "but what's done is done - and since I'm serious about us, they would have found out sooner or later anyways."

That patented Takaoka-smirk crept into the corners of Eiji's mouth. "Well, I'm serious about us, too, and even though I like those guys, I really don't care whether they're okay with this or not.  
"I want this...us," he added. "It's all I could think about while I was wandering all over Tokyo yesterday. I tried to figure out why – why _you_, of all people, male or female. But you know –" Eiji trained those expressive brown eyes on Satoru and his gaze had an almost physical weight. "– the only thing I came up with is that I'm no good at analyzing feelings. All I know is that you are right there." He tapped his heart with his fist.

It was the look Satoru gave him at that, a cross between joy and passion, that had Eiji rearing up and press his lips to the other man's neck. It was a purely instinctive reaction, and the drawn-out groan he received from Satoru as he kissed and nibbled on his pulse point, was music to Eiji's ears.

"Eiji." The whispered name fell like a benediction from Satoru's lips and Eiji closed his eyes, savoring his name in Satoru's voice and the desire the intonation bespoke. Eiji turned his head, grabbed the back of Satoru's neck and gently guided him towards his lips again, the kiss eliciting a groan from _him_ this time when he felt Satoru's hands on his belt, then on the zipper of his pants. He reflexively raised his hips in facilitation, and Satoru quickly had him divested of his slacks. In return, he lent an eager hand in ridding the chief of his own black jeans.

Nude, they stared at each other for a moment; Satoru in obvious appreciation, Eiji with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

Chief lowered his head towards the Ashu-hunter's chest once more, this time ignoring the chain and its pendant, and Eiji arched his back, eyes fluttering nearly closed and the breath hitching in his throat at the feeling of Satoru's lips on his nipple.

The Fiery Adventurer took his time, alternating between the two sensitive nubs while his hand gradually strayed lower, caressing Eiji's tight stomach and powerfully muscled thighs. Before long, Eiji was writhing beneath him. Slowly, mindful not to startle his partner, he centered in on Eiji's groin and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath when his hand finally found the desired target.

Eiji, for his part, was lost in a world of sensations heretofore unexperienced. Satoru's hands on his skin did things to his body and mind he could have never imagined.

This was The Dream given substance.

He did his best to stay focused enough to copy Satoru's movements and gestures, but he knew he responded more to the ministrations he was receiving rather than reciprocating them.

Thankfully, Satoru wasn't complaining. Not that he was in a position to voice any complaints anyways, since his mouth was currently being filled with Eiji's tongue once more.

Their rhythms didn't quite match, the bed was too narrow, and a consistent cold breeze from the overhead air conditioning vent blew down onto their heated skins.

None of that mattered. Nothing but Satoru's fingertips gliding over his skin, his lips devouring his mouth, their bodies hot against each other. The pressure was building quickly, insurmountably, and while Eiji craved the impending relief, he also yearned to drag out the moment as long as possible.

It was a lost battle; Eiji had no choice but to give in. He bucked one more time, crying out as Satoru's hands guided him to the inevitable completion. Somehow, though, he retained the presence of mind to return the favor, and Satoru followed him over the edge only a few strokes later.

Panting, they slumped against each other. An awkward _'now what?'_ moment followed, but it was quickly dispersed when Satoru gathered Eiji into his arms and brushed his sweat-damp bangs out of his eyes with a look of affection that went straight to the Ashu-watcher's heart. His mind was still awash with emotions from what had just transpired between them, yet he could find no adequate words to voice them. He felt the need to say _something _to Satoru, though, so he simply said the first thing that came into his mind. "Will you stay?"

Satoru's eyes went from Eiji's face to drift across the twin-size mattress. "I would love to, but we wouldn't be very comfortable. Those beds are so damn narrow."

"For a little while at least, then."

"Sure."

They shuffled around on the mattress for a few moments, disentangling various limbs and generally trying to find the best possible positions. They finally settled on lying on their sides, facing each other. Eiji pulled the quilt over them from the foot of the bed, but as he settled his head back against the pillow, he suddenly let out a chuckle.

Satoru raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"I just figured out what I can spend some of my hard-earned money on. Other than vegetables, that is."

"And what would that be?"

"Tomorrow I'm getting us a self-inflating, queen-size air mattress."

"Excellent idea."

They grinned sleepily at each other and shared a quick but affectionate kiss. Eiji let out a content sigh; it was an odd feeling having another human being so physically close to him, but it was something he could definitely grow used to. Especially when it was Satoru.

The chief's eyes had closed, and Eiji was watching him surreptitiously. _'Maybe Satoru is right and I really **am** more human than...anything else.'_ He doubted that any Ashu was capable of feeling all the things he had felt these past few days, and especially this past hour.

Eiji's eyes drifted shut. Tonight his life had completely changed - again. And definitely for the better. His lonely days were finally over. He had his father's spirit in the form of his shakujo, he had his mother's spirit in the form of the tear crystal – and he had Satoru in the form of the warm, solid body currently pressed up against him.

Tired, sated, and at the moment as close to happy as he had ever been, Eiji was asleep not two minutes later.

* * *

Satoru was the first to awake. The brief feeling of disorientation lasted only until his eyes fell onto the sleeping man next to him. The subdued light from the nightstand lamp cast a soft amber glow over Eiji's face, and Satoru took the opportunity to study his new lover, taking in the fringed strands of hazelnut-colored hair that framed his angular face, the perfectly set cheekbones, the full lips and long, dark lashes that presently hid those amazing eyes that Satoru could lose himself in. He could promptly feel the heat pooling in his abdomen once more, but he did not succumb to the temptation of waking Eiji, for they both needed their sleep. Besides, there was always tomorrow evening…

So he just looked on for another long moment instead.

He had told Eiji earlier that the admission of his feelings for him to the rest of the team had come a bit too early for his liking, and that was true; but now that it was public knowledge he was actually glad for it, for it felt like a weight off his soul.

He had kept his explanation short and to the point, and his teammembers' reactions had pretty much been within their characters: Natsuki had been the one with the most questions, since she had _'had the worst seat in the house for the show'_ according to her. Masumi had shown his acceptance by wearing his customary scowl not quite as deep as usual. Souta's expression of amusement had been the same as back in the warehouse, and after Satoru's explanation, he had been the second - after Natsuki - to wish him the best with Eiji as his partner.

Satoru grinned at the memory of Natsuki hugging him in her endearingly bubbly way, going on about how cute he and Eiji were going to look together, then turning around to punch Masumi in the arm when the Fast Adventurer just groaned and rolled his eyes at her dramatically for all her cooing.

Masumi had no chance; he was already Natsuki's, he just didn't know it yet. It was only a matter of time until he would inevitably succumb completely to the charms of the yellow Boukenger.

And then there was Sakura. At the thought of her, Satoru's grin changed to a soft sigh. Stone-faced throughout Satoru's short recital of the history about his attraction to Eiji, she had given him a curt bow, together with a mumbled felicitation, but the wobbly smile stitched to her face had never reached her eyes.

Even now, while lying in bed gazing at his sleeping lover, Satoru couldn't quite still the voice of his guilty conscience. He had known for a long time that her feelings for him ran deeper than professional admiration or friendship, although she had conveyed her interest in him in only the most subtle of ways. And even though Satoru had never encouraged her sentiments, he had to admit that her quiet persistence had been downright flattering.

He valued and respected his sub-chief immensely, and he hoped with all his heart that she would eventually find happiness in someone else's arms.

Thankfully, those arms were closer than she probably expected. A small smile crept back into the corners of Satoru's mouth as he recalled the hopeful look Souta had cast at Sakura's profile. It hadn't been his first by far; for an ex-spy, Souta sure wore his heart on his sleeve, and the torch he had been carrying for Sakura these past few months could brighten the darkest cave. Hopefully, Sakura would some day - preferably sooner than later - become aware of that warmth and light and turn towards it. Towards Souta.

Satoru made a mental note to send them on more side-missions and errands together from now on.

Natsuki and Masumi, Sakura and Souta – he genuinely wished all of them nothing but happiness. They were his subordinates, true, but they were also his teammates and friends.

He shifted slightly on the mattress. His arm felt numb, but there was no space to move to other than over the edge. _Damn regulation beds!_

Slowly, gingerly, as to not wake Eiji, he slipped out of bed and dressed quietly. He pulled the black t-shirt over his head, a grin forming on his face when he realized he had no idea whether this was his or Eiji's.

_Could this really work? Them? Together? For the long haul?_ He certainly hoped so. Satoru had known for quite some time now that his feelings for Takaoka Eiji had gone beyond mere physical attraction, and judging from what had happened between them in this bed a few hours ago, Eiji must have at least _some_ reciprocal feelings towards him.

_'Guess we'll just have to take this day by day,_' Satoru thought as he slipped into his shoes and gathered up his jacket from the floor.

The quilt-covered, brown-haired lump on the bed never moved, and he pressed a soft kiss to Eiji's temple before he quietly left the room. As he made the short trek to his own room, the grin on his face never budged. It was a good thing the corridor was deserted, for he probably looked like a smirking idiot.

They both had their work cut out for themselves for this relationship; that much was sure. But it was an adventure he was very much looking forward to.

THE END

* * *

_A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed this story. Although this part of the tale is finished, I might add on chapters as the muse strikes in the future. _

_Hope you all had as much fun reading this as I had writing it. _

_Dany_


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Although it says 'The End' at the conclusion of chapter six, I came up with this idea for an additional chapter…and there's no guarantee there won't be further chapters, either ;)  
_

Timeline: The day after chapter 6.

* * *

Akashi Satoru woke with a smile on his face, although he woke alone and in his own bed.

The memories of what had happened between him and Eiji a few hours ago in the Dazzling Adventurer's room remained so fresh in his mind that he could still almost feel the pressure and the heat of the other man's body on him whenever he closed his eyes again.

He indulged in only a few moments of delicious memories, however, for he was Chief and therefore would lead with the wrong example if he arrived at work too late this morning.

Twenty minutes later he was walking down the dormitory hallway, his steps slowing inadvertently as he neared Eiji's door, and before he knew it, he was ringing his partner's buzzer. Maybe Eiji was up for some breakfast before work…

After the third buzzing, Satoru had to concede that Eiji had most likely beaten him to the punch for the cafeteria. With a shrug, he resumed his walk down the hall.

'_Well, he did get some more sleep than I did…'_

There was no sight of the handsome Ashu-watcher in the cafeteria, however, so Satoru felt no particular reason to linger there, either. He simply grabbed a roll and headed towards the common room where the rest of the team was already assembled and ready for the day – everyone but Eiji.

Satoru wasn't worried, and the others didn't look like they were, either. They were all used to their newest teammember's wandering nature. Eiji was probably roaming the city or the outskirts of it. He'd be back.

After the usual routine of a round of 'Good Mornings' and a mug of coffee from the hotplate in the corner, Satoru joined his fellow Boukengers at the funny-shaped table to discuss the day's agenda.

Paperwork. Joy.

Efficient as always, Sakura distributed the work between them all. There were the reports from yesterday's battle with the Questers and Eiji's rescue mission to write up, as well as quite a few older mission reports to look over. Soon the command table was stacked with piles of papers and the SGS's treasure hunters were absorbed in their tasks of comparing notes and exchanging information to assure the accuracy of those past reports.

If any of them suspected that Satoru had spent most of the night in Eiji's bed, they certainly didn't let on, and the chief was grateful to them for their ready acceptance of his changed relationship with Eiji.

Souta was teasing Masumi about him tripping and actually falling over the Precious they had collected last week, an allegation Masumi vehemently denied. Sakura took Souta's side, whereas Natsuki defended Masumi's surefootedness, and before long Satoru found himself in the role of arbitrator to settle the disagreement. Amused, Chief pretended to think the matter over for a moment before he decided the case in favor of Souta.

BoukenBlack's protests were smothered with more lighthearted teasings for a few more minutes, but eventually, they all settled back down to their tasks at hand.

Over the top of his clipboard, Satoru cast a surreptitious look at Sakura, who was perched in front of her open laptop computer. She was not looking at him, but Satoru could sense no downright hostility from his sub-chief. The aura she conveyed was more that of resignation, and it gave Satoru the budding hope that, with time, they could find some way to resume at least some form of their old camaraderie. Only time would tell, though.

* * *

Nearly two hours later, the doors of the rec room swished open to admit a grinning Takaoka Eiji nibbling on a carrot.

"Morning."

"Morning?" Masumi echoed. "It's almost noon, and we've all been here for hours already. You should check your schedule sometimes."

"We have schedules?" Eiji asked innocently, then gave his grumbling teammate a smirk and simply sauntered past him.

When he passed the command table, another one of the orange vegetables suddenly appeared as if by magic in his other hand and Eiji held it out to Satoru, pointy tip first.

"Carrot?" he asked with a grin that was both cheeky and suggestive.

Satoru was going for the wry look, but couldn't quite manage to keep the amusement out of his face. "No, thank you."

Eiji winked at him, but made no move towards any closer contact. He obviously remembered Satoru's words from last night. _When we're on duty, it's work, but afterwards… _

Instead, he let his eyes roam over the stacks of forms on the table. "So, what are you all doing?"

"Catching up on paperwork and reports," Sakura informed him with only the quickest of glances in his direction.

"Ah, naptime, then," Eiji declared and promptly resumed his stroll towards the short set of stairs that led to the elevated platform and the lounge chair. He lowered his tall frame into the cushions with a satisfied sigh. "Just wake me when there's some action going on," he said to no one in particular, eyes already closing.

"What? Ten hours of sleep not enough for you?"

Eiji cracked an eyelid open at Masumi's sarcastic voice and favored him with a smirk. "I didn't get anywhere near that much rest last night. My sleep space got invaded."

The team's reaction to that statement was uniform and instantaneous. Four heads turned, four pairs of eyes settled pointedly on Chief Akashi, and four faces formed expressions anywhere between amusement and wryness.

To his dismay, Satoru could feel a blush heating up his cheeks.

Too late to feint insouciance, but he did it anyway. Nonchalantly, he raised an eyebrow. "I don't know what you're all looking at. I slept just fine last night," he said, then took an extended sip of coffee. He tried to ignore the assorted knowing grins and snickers he received by pretending to read through a report, but couldn't quite keep the smile forming at the corners of his mouth away. That only prompted more chuckles from the team as well as a distinct snort from the direction of the platform's recliner.

Not long after they had settled back into 'work mode', however, Sakura suddenly rose and crossed the distance to the lounge chair with determined strides.

Hovering over him, the pink-clad girl held out a clipboard to Eiji. The Dazzling Adventurer made a show of groaning when he recognized the blank form fastened to it.

"Aw, another report? What is it with you people and paperwork?"

"You know the rules, Eiji-kun." Sakura gave him a long-suffering look. "Every time we collect a Precious or conduct a mecha battle, we have to write a report about it. It is important to keep records for later references!"

"We haven't collected any Precious lately," Eiji pointed out.

"But we did conduct a mecha battle yesterday, if you remember."

Before he could scowl at her for the thinly disguised sarcasm, Souta took that moment to throw in his own two cents worth. "We all have to give our individual versions of the confrontation with the Questers and Gaja, you know that."

Eiji rolled his eyes at him. "Well, you guys write them, then. It's not like I can contribute much to the events in the warehouse. I was kinda _preoccupied _for most of that time."

He flinched as the clipboard landed in his lap. "Then write up your part of the battle with Quester-Robo." Sakura gave him a look that clearly said _'get to it!'_, then turned and walked back down the short flight of stairs. She had almost reached her chair when she turned and looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, and this time, could you write legibly, please?"

"And maybe try to shoot for more than six words," Souta added with a grin.

"Hey," Eiji exclaimed, waving his half-eaten carrot. "As far as I'm concerned, my last report was right to the point."

Natsuki, whose head had been bobbing back and forth between her bickering teammembers, suddenly snickered. "And pretty funny, too."

All the while, Satoru sat silently, listening and smirking into his coffee mug.

Sakura cast Eiji a stern look. "I'm sorry, but _'Siren Builder kicked Quester Robo's ass'_ does not constitute as an acceptable standard SGS report."

"Not to mention that you misspelled 'ass'," Masumi deadpanned.

Eiji's grin turned to a scowl. "Hey, what is this? Pick-on-Eiji day?"

Satoru cast him a look and saw the irritation outweighing the amusement on his partner's face. The Dazzling Adventurer plucked the clipboard off his lap while he rose and stomped down the stairs. When he passed the command table, he dropped the blank report next to Sakura's laptop and declared, "I'll do it later," before stalked out the door without looking back.

A startled silence followed his exit. Arms folded across his chest, Masumi stared at the door, his brows creased in his habitual frown. "Geez, what's with him all of a sudden? No need to get all prissy." He turned to Chief. "Akashi, what…"

"I don't know," Satoru said, the bewilderment on his face more cultivated, but no less apparent.

Eiji was being uncharacteristically touchy. He put his coffee down and rose, intent on pursuit. "I'll go talk to him."

* * *

He found him outside, on the museum's top floor observation deck. Normally, the view of this section of Tokyo was quite picturesque, but today Satoru didn't spare the scenery a look. He was focused on Eiji.

The Ashu-watcher was at the far end of the platform, leaning with his back against the wall of the building, hands jammed into the pockets of his jacket and scowling at the ground. He made no move to acknowledge Satoru as he approached.

"Hey," he said by way of announcing himself, but Eiji kept staring at the concrete floor.

"Forget it, I'm not going to apologize to him," the Ashu-hunter said.

Satoru only shrugged. "Well, nothing new there. But Eiji…"

"They were picking on me."

"They were just teasing."

"No. They were picking on me, just because I can't…" The suddenness with which Eiji's mouth snapped shut surprised Satoru, and with a blazing realization, he suddenly knew what this was all about.

"Never mind." Eiji abruptly pushed away from the wall, taking pains not to look at the Boukenger leader as he brushed past him and towards the observation deck's railing.

At least he wasn't trying to run off. Satoru took that as a good sign as he took the spot next to him. Eiji was looking out onto the city, his forearms resting on the iron railing, hands clasped as if in prayer.

"Eiji, I need to ask you a question, and I would like an honest answer," Satoru said.

Eiji just cast him a quick side glance before his gaze went down to his folded hands in silent anticipation.

Satoru didn't make him wait long. "Do you know how to read and write?"

Eiji didn't flinch, but he did blink several times in rapid succession before he indignantly exclaimed, "I can read and write. Just...not very well. There. You happy now?"

Hunch confirmed. Satoru nodded placidly, not in response to his partner's rhetorical question, but rather in gentle encouragement for Eiji to continue.

Eiji averted his gaze once more, and Satoru remained silent, simply waiting next to him. He could sense that Eiji had more to say, he just needed a little time. A sudden draft lifted hazelnut-brown bangs and made the white strand of hair dance for a moment. Eiji sighed into the breeze. When the Ashu-watcher finally did speak again, the defensiveness in his voice had softened.

"I only went to school for a few years; as soon as I could I started wandering the islands with my father. I only wanted to be with him, be like him, and hunt down demons. He tried to teach me as much as he could while we were on the road, but I never really cared about education..." He let the sentence trail off with a shrug.

"I could tutor you, you know," Satoru offered. "If you will accept my help."

"There's no shame in admitting you can't read and write well," he added quickly when he saw Eiji's averse expression. "Lots of people can't. And I wouldn't mind teaching you. Matter of fact, if you want I can show you how to work other things, too. Like a computer or the other GoGo Vehicles..." He stopped when he saw Eiji's face suddenly tightening even more, a muscle twitching in his clenched jaw, the full lips pressing into a thin line. "Why the face?"

It took a moment before Eiji let out a heavy breath and said, "Because I have nothing to give in return."

"First of all, this is not an _'eye for an eye'_ deal here," Satoru retorted mildly. "Secondly, it's not true that you have nothing to teach in return. For example, you know a whole lot more than me about surviving in the wilderness. You can show me a whole lot there."

The wry look Eiji presented him with told Satoru pretty much what his partner thought about that comment. Eiji folded his arms across his chest. "Please. You're a top-notch treasure hunter. I'm sure you know more than enough about survival in the wild." But Satoru was already shaking his head.

"Not really. True, we camped out at times, but it was always comfort-camping. You know - battery-powered heaters or fans, gas lamps and hotplates, canned food, airbeds, insulated tents, and such."

Eiji just snorted. "That's not camping, that's a vacation."

Satoru grinned at him. "So what do you say?" He bumped Eiji's shoulder with his own playfully, coaxing a smirk out of the Ashu-watcher in return. "I teach you to read and write while you show me how to properly rough it in the wild. But of course we'll have the books and notepads with us, so you don't have to miss any of your lessons."

Eiji rolled his eyes. "Leave it up to you to mix pleasure with work." Still grinning, he nodded at Satoru. "All right, it's a deal. One condition, though. We do this in my room."

"Why your room?"

"Because studying in my room, just the two of us, definitely beats being overheard in the rec room by the rest of the gang. So when are you coming by?"

Satoru recognized the stubborn set of Eiji's face; apparently, there was no room for argument about the location of their study sessions, so Satoru simply shrugged, resigned. "I have some things I need to get first; give me about an hour."

"An hour," Eiji confirmed with a nod, turned, pushed away from the railing and closed most of the remaining distance between them in such a quick and smooth motion that the Fiery Adventurer's eyes widened in surprise. Satoru had the distinct feeling that Eiji would be kissing him any second now, right here, out in the open and in public. Granted, they were five stories up and the only few other people on the observation deck were on the opposite side, but still…

He didn't. Instead, Eiji merely looked at him for a long moment, the wicked twinkle in his eyes showed clearly that the Dazzling Adventurer was deriving a plethora of amusement from his partner's startled reflex. Eiji leaned in, his mouth so close to Satoru's ear that the chief could feel the puff of air on his earlobe when he spoke. "I'll see you then."

A moment later, Satoru found himself alone on the observation platform.

* * *

Forty-eight minutes later, Akashi Satoru was ringing the buzzer on the keypad next to Takaoka Eiji's door.

He had barely taken his hand off the device when the door slid aside to reveal Eiji standing before him. Before Satoru could take a single step forward, however, his lover's hands shot out, gripped the front of his jacket and yanked him across the threshold and inside the room. The door had not fully closed yet when Eiji already had Satoru up against the wall, hungry lips devouring his mouth and an impatient tongue requesting access. Long, elegant fingers wound through his spiky hair while Eiji fitted his body against Satoru's from hip to shoulder. Taken completely by surprise, Satoru nevertheless opened his mouth only too willingly, his fingers relaxing the reflexive grips he'd had on his partner's jacket sleeves to wrap his arms around the Ashu-watcher's waist.

One deep kiss turned into half a dozen, and soon Satoru wasn't all that sure anymore what that other thing was they were supposed to be doing right now. _There **was **another reason he had come here, right? _

They were eventually forced apart by the fact that drawing in air every minute or so was still a necessity.

"I've been wanting to do this all day," Eiji breathed against Satoru's lips, then his gaze traveled higher until his eyes were locked with the chief's.

"Did anyone see you come in?"

The worried tint in Eiji's voice had Satoru break out into a grin. It also made him remember once more what their original plans had been. "No. And even if they did, do you really think that they would assume that it's _studying _we're doing?"

"Not studying words, that's for sure."

Leave it to Eiji to be more worried about getting caught practicing reading and writing rather than getting caught having sex.

Mirroring his partner's smirk, Eiji added, "There's something I want to show you first, though." Without breaking their embrace, Eiji shifted his body a few inches to the side and jerked his head over his shoulder in a '_check it out_' motion. Curious, Satoru peered around him – and promptly chuckled when he spotted the heretofore unseen new addition to Eiji's room.

On the floor, right before the Dazzling Adventurer's bed, was a fully inflated Queen-size air mattress. Two pillows in red pillow cases were arranged on it, halfway covered by a light-grey comforter.

"I've looked, but I couldn't find a silver quilt."

Satoru smiled. "That's why you were gone half the morning?"

"Yeah. Told you I'd get one of those, didn't I?" Still grinning at him, Eiji lifted a hand to cup Satoru's cheek and run his thumb over those generous lips. "Maybe this could prompt you to stay tonight?"

Satoru leaned into the touch. "Oh, most definitely."

"Great. Let's try it out right now!"

And before he knew it, Satoru found himself being pulled towards, then effectively dropped onto, the mattress. His protest was stifled by Eiji's lips to his mouth again, the kiss turning sloppy when he couldn't help but let out a soft laugh at the Dazzling Adventurer's eagerness.

"Eiji, wait…"

"Mmm, don't want to wait."

"Lessons first, remember?"

Full lips were caressing the skin around his mouth. "Consider this recess."

The slightly wet contact sent shivers down Satoru's spine, yet he managed to dredge up enough remaining brain cells for a reproval. "We haven't even started any lessons yet!"

Eiji's lips were now moving around his chin and over his Adam's apple towards the hollow of his throat. "Pre-class recess, then!"

He could not let Eiji hit _that_ spot. If he did, there would be no studying going on here for sure. Although he would have rather used his hands to pull the light-haired man even closer to him, Satoru pressed them gently against the center of Eiji's chest instead.

"We agreed to get some reading and writing done," he reminded him in his best 'leader' voice.

With a noise of frustration, Eiji pulled back, but not too far. "All right, fine," he pouted, "but this is only postponed." He pointed at the canvas satchel still slung across Satoru's shoulder. "So what's in the bag?"

"Oh, just the essential stuff: notebook, pen, books…" Satoru put the bag between them and spread the contents out across the comforter's quilted surface. Eiji picked up one of the half dozen books and promptly made a face.

"Those are children's books!"

"Well, yes. I don't know how much you know, after all."

Eiji gave him his best wry look from beneath his bangs. "I can read things like See Spot Run, you know."

Satoru didn't miss a beat. "And that's exactly why I got you third-grade reading books instead of kindergarten literature."

Eiji only _hmphed_ at him, then sat back and proceeded to page slowly through the book. From the quickly darkening look on his face it was pretty soon obvious, however, that he had difficulties deciphering many of the hiragana characters. When he realized that Satoru was watching him, he abruptly slammed the book shut and assumed an unconcerned expression.

"All right, those will do for now, I guess," he said a little too nonchalantly while he tossed the book back onto the little pile between them, "but I have an idea how we can keep this simple and quick. Just teach me the essential stuff I need for the reports. You know, words like GoGo vehicles, Daibouken, Precious, and all that." That beautiful mouth curled into a smirk. "That way we can get to the recess quicker."

Satoru grinned back wistfully. "As much as I would love to skip to recess, too, but – no. We're going to do this the right way. From the bottom up." He rummaged around the bag, then pulled out a sheet and held it up so Eiji could clearly see the hiragana alphabet printed on it. "Better sharpen your pencil, 'cause you're going to practice until you know at least half of those by heart."

Eiji's face scrounged up at the dozens of characters, and with a long-suffering groan he slumped over with his face into one of the pillows. The voice, muffled by goose-down and fabric, was nevertheless audible enough, not to mention saturated with such mock-drama, that Satoru had to laugh.

"The things I have to do to get laid."

THE END


End file.
